Getting a LCD display working with a Jeenode is easiest done using a LCD plug - but it took me much longer to get it working than I had expected.
And it all turned out to be a stupid mistake on my side :

If you can see the small potentiometer (on the top right hand side of the main chip) - it's really difficult to turn, and it controls the contrast. It turned out that it had not moved when I put a screwdriver in and turned it...
At the start I did not solder the correct 3 bridges on the card either....so lessons learnt and so on.